1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a solidified emulsifiable concentrate and a method for the application thereof. By the term "solidified emulsifiable concentrate" used herein is meant a solid chemical preparation which has an emulsifiable concentrate supported on a carrier and which, upon mixture with water, forms a stable emulsion. And the term "agricultural uses" used in the specification hereof is not meant in a narrow sense of only embracing "uses with agricultural and horticultural produces:" but in a broad sense of embracing "uses with arboreal and forestal produces" in addition to those mentioned above.
2. The Prior Art
Chemicals for agricultural uses and for sanitary uses are generally sold and applied in the form of mixtures of active ingredients with various adjuvants selected to suit the particular purposes for which they are used. Generally, these chemicals are divided by their forms into dusts, granules, wettable powders, emulsifiable concentrates, solutions, etc. As a rule, wettable powders, emulsifiable concentrates and solutions are diluted with water immediately before application and are prepared respectively in the form of suspensions, emulsions and dilute solutions so as to suit their application by spraying. They are applied in the form of mist by means of a sprayer. Since they invariably use water as a carrier, their application calls for more human labor or motive force and proves more troublesome than the application of such solid fine-dust granules as dusts and granules. The droplets of liquid preparations so applied by spraying, however, have a particle diameter (generally from 0.2 to 0.1 mm) large enough to preclude otherwise possible drifting of droplets outside the areas of application. Thus, the application by spraying has an advantage that the possibility of active ingredients polluting the environment bordering on the areas of application is diminished and the consumption of chemicals is reduced. Of these chemicals which use water as a carrier, solutions and emulsifiable concentrates prove to be more desirable forms than wettable powders since, after their effects have been manifested, they are decomposed more quickly into non-toxic components by physical energies such as light and heat or by microorganisms. Where water is used as a carrier, those active ingredients which are sparingly soluble or totally insoluble in water cannot be prepared in the form of solutions and, therefore, must be used in the form of wettable powders or emulsifiable concentrates.
Wettable powders are preparations which have active ingredients supported on solid carriers and, therefore, can be handled as solid substances until they are diluted with water immediately before their actual application. In contrast, emulsifiable concentrates are liquid preparations which are obtained by dissolving active ingredients, as required, with organic solvents and adding suitable surface active agents to the resultant solutions and, therefore, are handled as liquid substances. Generally, liquid substances entail various inevitable disadvantages in terms of package and container, ease of handling, etc. as compared with solid substances. If emulsifiable concentrates could be converted into solid substances, the solidified emulsifiable concentrates so obtained would prove to be highly advantageous.
Attempts have so far been made for the development of methods capable of solidifying emulsifiable concentrates. For example, it is known to solidify an emulsifiable concentrate by causing the concentrate to be adsorbed on a granular carrier such as diatomaceous earth (Japanese patent publication No. 6499/1963). The product which is obtained by this method, however, is intended to be incorporated directly in its granular form into soil. It is also known to effect the solidification by using a fine-dust type or short-fiber type cellulose as a carrier (Japanese patent publication No. 42800/1971). This invention relates to granular agricultural chemicals for use in paddy fields and aims to permit solidified agricultural chemicals to be retained long in their suspended state under water and thereby enable their active ingredients to be released efficiently into inundating water. For this purpose, the solidified agricultural pesticides are specified to possess particle diameters in the range of from 4 to 35 mesh (by Tyler scale). As described above, these solidified preparations obtained by the known methods are intended for direct application in their granular forms. It has not yet been known to the art to produce solidified emulsifiable concentrations of the type which are diluted with water and applied in the form of stable emulsions.
Therefore, a general object of the present invention is to provide a solidified chemical preparation which, upon dilution with water, forms a stable emulsion.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for the application of a solidified chemical preparation obtained by causing an emulsifiable concentrate containing an active ingredient sparingly soluble or totally insoluble in water to be occluded in powdered cellulose, which method comprises mixing the solidified chemical preparation with water to form a stable emulsion and applying the emulsion to whatever is desired to be treated therewith.